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In today's lesson, I'm going to talk about a very powerful four letter word. This word can paralyze even the strongest man and cause him to stop dead in his tracks. The word is FEAR. Webster defines fear as a strong unpleasant emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. To fear is to be afraid.
Throughout the Bible, the Scriptures often speak of fear. In Genesis, when the serpent convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, and she convinced Adam, they hid themselves from God because they were afraid of their nakedness. But if they had been obedient to God in the first place, they never would have known they were naked. Adam and Eve lacked faith in God. They didn't know God as true and Satan as the liar, so they sinned against God. And the first result of their sin was a sense of shame and fear for them, but the ultimate result brought sickness, sorrow, suffering, guilt, fear, and death to the entire human race.
In the story of Adam and Eve, we learn that fear is not of God but of Satan. With God's promise that He will never leave or forsake us, a Christian's faith brings assurance of God's love and protection. God wants His children to be safe in the knowledge that He will protect us when we are faced with situations that are dangerous, just as He did during the Exodus. When Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt and they saw the Egyptian army marching after them, they not only feared, they were petrified. But in their faith, they cried out unto the Lord and God allowed Moses to perform one of the greatest miracles in history. Moses parted the sea and the Israelites passed through on dry ground, but all the Egyptians that followed were drowned.
Earlier I said fear can paralyze even the strongest man, fear can also change the bravest man who was once a victor into a victim. As we know, many of the Psalms were written by King David. This same David was the victor over the giant Goliath, the same David whom the women sang praises for killing tens of thousands of Philistines while Saul killed only thousands. That same David became the victim. When Saul's jealousy became too much for him to bear, he sought to kill David and later when David's own son Absalom wanted to take over the throne, he also sought to kill David. David feared Saul and his son Absalom. To escape death he ran, and many of his Psalms were written out of fear as he tried to stay a step ahead of those who wanted him dead. But David was a man after God's own heart. So he realized he could rise above the circumstances of life by keeping his eyes on the Lord. David asked himself, "Why flee when you can trust?" He must have thought, "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" So in his confidence and faith in God, David overcame his enemies and ended up writing one of the best loved poems in all of literature. Psalm 23 speaks of the Great Shepherd who is with us and takes away our fear of evil as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
It is one of the many Psalms that help us realize when God is by our side to protect us from dangerous situations, we can walk through life with courage.
Up to now, I have gone over some of the instances of fear in the Old Testament. The New Testament is also full of instances of fear. The appearance of the angels who announced the birth of Jesus caused fear in the shepherds out in the fields. The shepherds left the fields in fear but returned in praise and adoration. Joseph and Nicodemus were two Jewish leaders who were followers of Jesus but remained secret for fear of the Jews. But when they realized Jesus as the Messiah, their fear vanished and they honored Jesus by removing His body from the cross and burying it in Joseph's new tomb. And many times the twelve chosen by Jesus experienced fear. The disciples feared for their lives when a raging storm arose while Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat; they were also afraid when they saw Jesus walking on the water because they thought He was a spirit; and when the disciples heard God's voice on the Mount of Transfiguration, they were so afraid they fell on their faces. But in each of those instances, Jesus was right there with comforting words, "Peace Be Still;" "Be of good cheer, it is I"; and "Arise, and be not Afraid." During the three years of watching and witnessing Jesus' ministry, the disciples realized He was indeed the Son of God. And after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension, they feared no more. On the day of Pentecost, they received the Holy Spirit and began boldly preaching to all nations in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord.
Since fear is of the devil, those of us who possess the Holy Spirit have power over the devil's tactics. The Apostle Paul was so filled with the Holy Spirit he believed, "to live was Christ and to die was gain." When Paul was about to be martyred, he took time to remind young Timothy of some very comforting words. In II Timothy, Paul wrote, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Those words were true for Timothy thousands of years ago and they are still true for Christians today. God has given us a spirit of power to serve bravely, endure patiently, suffer triumphantly, and die gloriously. He has also given us a spirit of love that takes away our fear and makes us willing to give ourselves for Christ. Finally, God has given us a spirit of sound mind to always display self-control and make wise judgments no matter how grim the circumstances are.
As I said, Fear is a very powerful four letter word, and it can keep Christians from moving forward. But the Spirit of God empowers Christians with the faith that lets us know that there is no reason to fear because God is always with us. And knowing God is always with us makes us better able to go through dangers and uncertainties of life with courage and confidence which brings all the glory and honor back to God.
